University of Rochester Athletics

The University of Rochester field hockey team used five first half goals to beat Nazareth by a 7-2 score in its home opener on Wednesday evening.
 
Rochester (3-0) got goals two goals each from senior Lindsey Randall and sophomore Nicole Cerza in addition to single tallies from Belle Hoagland, Maura O'Conor and Michelle Relin.  The sophomore Relin finished with a team high tying four points on the night, assisting on two goals as well.
 
Nazareth (0-1) played strong in the second half, evening up the shots (11-11) and earning five more corners than the #18 ranked Yellowjackets.  Overall, Rochester tallied 29 total shots to the Golden Flyers' 16.  Naz keepers made 13 saves to Rochester's only making nine.  UR sophomore Kathryn Montgomery also chipped in three defensive saves, keeping Nazareth off the board in the second half.
 
After a sluggish start to the contest, Rochester was able to break open the scoring with two goals roughly a minute apart midway through the first half.  Hoagland cashed in a goal off a breakaway pass from Relin at 14:16 and then at 15:21, O'Conor scored her second of the season when her shot just trickled in off the left post.
 
Relin made it 3-0 UR in the 25th minute when she showed patience and weaved around the defense and got the Nazareth keeper Shannon Winney out of position, eventually tapping a goal into the open net.
 
Cerza and Randall then made it 5-0 Rochester heading into the break with hard shots that found the cage with less than five minutes left in the half.
 
Randall got a rebound goal early in the second before Nazareth got two back, one off a scramble by Jordan Ritchie and the other coming on a right wing shot from Magill Woodruff.  Cerza would then score her second of the game with 1:30 left, making the final score 7-2.
 
UR goalie Madison Wagner made three saves playing the first half with substitute Tara Lamberti making six stops in the second period.  Winney made 12 saves for Naz in 40 minutes of action while backup Mary Greco would make one stop in relief.
 
UR next travels to Oneonta State for a tilt this Saturday at 2 pm.